2019 End of Telethon Total

It Takes a Village

Eagles

Having local youth like the Girl Scouts participate in the telethon is part of the organizers’ strategy to continue the longevity this fundraiser has had in the Prairie du Chien community. Entertainment, stories and hard-earned funds have made an enormous difference in heart and cancer research through several key medical institutions across the region.

Gretchen Faulkner is the epitome of the annual Prairie du Chien telethon. She’s demonstrated her love of dancing and singing during the live broadcast for most of her life. She exemplifies the joy the telethon can bring to audiences locally and far away—the happiness and good memories it’s brought viewers for 44 years now.

The Prairie du Chien High School wrestlers have been a staple on the Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon for many of its recent years with their popular Pushups for Pennies fundraiser. They perform their promised pushups in front of the memory wall each time and, this year was part of the $46,697 that was pledged by the time the broadcast went off the air.

Lucy Anderson and Betty Cejka enjoyed a dance on the telethon stage as host and friend Tom Nelson looked on.

The 2019 Eagles Heart & Cancer Telethon is January 26, 2019, starting at 5 p.m. at Bluff View Intermediate School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.The theme of the forty-fourth Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon is "Family". Whenever family gathers, well wishes, family photos, and stories are exchanged. Sometimes, those stories include relatives, friends and others who have been affected by either a heart condition or cancer. This year, the Eagle’s Telethon will have a wishing well. Our hope is that the children will be a part of our “Family” this year by coming to the telethon and tossing a wish into the wishing well along with a few coins to help this important cause. Then stay and watch the telethon while is being televised live on Mediacom channel 6. Your wish may be read or posted on the telethon. If you cannot attend the telethon, please watch us live on YouTube or Mediacom channel 6. All proceeds go directly to heart disease and cancer research.

The items will be featured throughout the evening of the 2019 Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon on-air live auction. The telethon is held at Bluff View Middle School in Prairie du Chien. The telethon is broadcast via Media Com Channel 6 and YouTube. Call in using the numbers scrolling across the bottom of the tv. Winning bidders must pick up items at the Eagles Club, Prairie du Chien.

This wishing well, made by Scott and Tom Paulson, from an
idea of Gail Zirngibl’s, will be at the Eagles Telethon for youth to
bring their wishes and coins and drop them in.

Forty-four years speaks volumes for our community—that it’s willing to have this telethon and showcase what Prairie du Chien really is and what we have done.” The never speechless Tom Nelson said this about the Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon and its dedicated committee, talent, and viewers who’ve, together, brought a “breath of fresh air” to the middle of winter and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical research since 1976.
“It’s an opportunity to spotlight our youth, our working class and us old-timers who still choose to live in Prairie du Chien. Through that process, we raise a little money,” Nelson added.

The reality is, more than just a little money has been donated. The telethon has amassed $906,517.46, in 43 years, to be exact.

Those funds have all contributed to research in the fields of heart disease and cancer, through medical institutions in La Crosse and Madison, trickling down to Prairie du Chien as well.

This year’s Eagles Telethon will be Saturday, Jan. 26, from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., live from the Bluff View School cafeteria and broadcast on local Mediacom channel 6 and on YouTube. Visit eaglestelethon.org to access online viewing—whether you live afar or are watching from the comfort of your own home locally.

The 2019 telethon theme is “A Family Reunion.”

“Families connect for the telethon. It might be for a few moments while on stage, or for the three months we spend planning this project,” Nelson said, also pointing out that the telethon connects the families of Gundersen, Mayo, Crossing Rivers and UW-Madison for medical research. It further connects area businesses and organizations who donate time and money to this mutual cause.

The telethon committee recognizes there’s always a challenge to keep bringing out newness in each year’s event. Yet they believe in the importance of featuring some of the standbys that people look forward to on a yearly basis.

One of the newest ventures for 2019 is a wooden wishing well, handcrafted by Scott and Tom Paulson from an idea produced by Gail Zirngibl. Their creation will serve as a way to encourage young kids to go to the live telethon studio, share their written wishes and perhaps some coins from their piggy banks, and possibly end up being a star on TV.

“They’re supposed to be thinking about family,” Zirngibl said, noting that wish forms were provided

Hosts Dan Moris (left) and Tom Stram announce the
telethon’s efforts of surpassing a major milestone during
the 2018 telethon.

to all Prairie du Chien schools for distribution to students. “This is a way the kids can get involved and do their part.”
Nelson said he hopes there’s time to read a few special wishes on the air.

The well will be auctioned off later on in the night.

All are welcome to stop by Bluff View to see the telethon live. Food, treats, and beverages are sold on site and there’s also side entertainment in addition to the ongoing show.

In addition, throughout the telethon, there will be plenty of activities, such as a dinner and meat raffle, happening at the Eagles Club in Prairie du Chien. “This is where there’s the connection back to the club and the Eagles Aerie 1502,” Nelson said.

In the coming few years, it’s likely the Eagles Telethon will surpass the $1 million mark, considering at least $40,000 has been raised each year since 2015. Nelson feels the telethon is sustainable because of the people who put it together and the people who support it.

In total, he said close to 300 community members are involved with making the telethon happen, including 20 people on the committee, 50 people helping with setup Friday, 200 people who are part of the show and others who help with Eagles Club activities.

“We all believe in the reality of what needs to be done in our lives,” he stated. “It’s the right thing to do.”

The Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon will celebrate its 44th year in 2019. That’s right – FORTY-FOUR years!
The success of the telethon has always been the people, all with extraordinary abilities. The ability to plan, to work together, to make us laugh or cry, sing, dance, or play an instrument. The people, who, year after year, have made donations of time, donations from pennies to thousands of dollars. The Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon has always been about the outstanding teams of researchers and doctors who fight for a cure each and every day.
Jim Lovel, Jr. a former NASA astronaut, the commander of Apollo 13 mission has said,”There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, we have to be people who make things happen.” The people of the telethon make things happen; managing the phones, setting the stage, getting talent, preparing snacks, writing scripts, providing video and audio, and a myriad of other tasks. These doers see problems as challenges they can overcome.
The goal of the Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon is to raise money for research that may lead to a cure. The people of the Eagles Telethon share their talents so that the people watching donate to the cause. Sharing involves a reciprocal giving. Research is full of benefits of giving. In his book Why Good Things Happen to Good People, Stephen Post, a professor of preventative medicine at Stony Brook University, writes that giving to others has been shown to increase health benefits in people with chronic illness, including HIV and multiple sclerosis. And Sonja Lyubomirsky, a happiness researcher at the University of California, Riverside, argues that giving can become contagious, moving from the personal to one’s community. “Being kind and generous leads you to perceive others more positively and more charitably,” she writes in The How of Happiness, and this “fosters a heightened sense of interdependence and cooperation in your social community.”
Join in the fun and excitement of the 44th Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon on January 26, 2019, starting at 5 p.m. at Bluff View School. Watch your friends, neighbors, and people of the community sharing their unique abilities, Help to make this the best telethon, so far.

We, along with Eagles Club members, Max and Ashley Erickson, Nate and Holly Gilberts, Nick and Andrea Gilberts, Tara Henry, Nate Bremmer, and Liz LaHaie are prepared to make this EVENT one of the biggest the club holds annually. We invite you all to join us on Saturday, January 26th starting at 3PM for a day and evening of fun and raising money for our very own Eagles Heart and Cancer Telethon.

We are asking, as usual, for you to bring a basket for the silent auction and to join us on this new adventure. Below are the events we have planned at this time:

8PM-9PM - Card Raffles will be drawn for Remington 870 Shotgun, 22/410 Over/Under Rifle AND a 46-50" TV(whichever is purchases:)

9PM - Silent Auction Basket winners announced. You must be present to win and pay for your items at that time, as all money will be taken to the Telethon that night and donated on our behalf> Please bring your checkbook or cash as there is no ATM on site

10PM to the Wee hours of the morning- DJ Music by Twisted Vision Nate and Nick Gilberts

Drink specials of $1.25 Tap Beers, $2 Cans or Bottles of Beer and $3 for mixed drinks. You can't beat those prices, so come on in! The club is open to the PUBLIC this day and encourages you to come to see what the Eagle's Club does for our community. They are always looking for new members. Tell your friends and pass the word and we will see you there

Please come join us for this fun-filled day and help us raise money for this great cause. We are all affected by one of these diseases in our lives, so please support those that are fighting the fight!